AnarchoNinaAnalyzesIn the time since Trump's election, many people who perhaps didn't entirely believe me when I spent the past ten years or so pointing out that everything about MAGA and its leader were genuinely fascist, have asked me, often frantically, "what do I do now?" This is a complicated question for me to answer for at least two consistent reasons.
1) We live in a fascist police state where it's already pretty risky to urge people to impede, resist, or topple that fascist police state and the extraction of profit all this fascism is designed to protect; and let me assure you, it hasn't gotten any *less* risky to do so now that Downmarket Mussolini is in charge again.
2) Almost nobody who asks me that question really wants to hear the answer they already know I'd give, if I were free to be completely honest with them. Organizing in sufficient numbers to legitimately "shut it down" or meaningfully "become ungovernable" is hard, almost certainly illegal in a society where billionaires call interfering with profits "domestic" or "economic" terrorism, and comes with a not insignificant degree of personal risk.
What people are looking for when they ask me that question, as far as I can tell, is a safe, legal-ish, and relatively easy way to fight fascism without really changing too much about the society that birthed it. Given that folks already know my answer, sharing it with them is probably going to get me perished some day, and they're typically not going to be interested in what I have to say until they've tried literally everything else first, I usually just decline to answer the question. In this week's episode of Some More News however, Cody and the gang did their absolute best to provide the answers those folks are looking for, without going to prison.
The show is essentially divided into two sections. In the first half, our host provides a frank assessment of the situation Americans who don't want fascism are facing. The Trump regime is acting to install overt fascism with a speed and ferocity that has left potential resisters disorientated and demoralized. Simultaneously, the checks and balances in the US system of government designed to prevent this are failing, or at least do not appear guaranteed to hold. The opposition political party is some combination of useless, out of touch, or openly collaborationist. The courts are more promising, but they didn't stop Trump last time, and the regime is openly threatening to ignore their rulings. The situation is grim, and Cody (rightfully in my opinion) points out that people need a plan for what to do next if, and when, the checks and balances do completely fail.
The second half of the show focuses on nonviolent methods of resisting fascism that scale well depending on the severity of the crisis, and the abilities individual people who want to fight fascism have to work with. As Cody notes, not everyone can start a revolution, but we all have something to offer. While providing examples and ideas, the host talks about the importance of mutual aid, both to mitigate the effects of government neglect, and also to foster the sense of community and "all in this together" necessary to take further resistance activities. Cody also discusses community defense (mostly as a method to stop ICE, but the same principles apply to preventing evictions, or even de-arresting fellow resisters in the face of police repression), while advising folks to stand up for each other, refuse to cooperate with the fascist agenda, and make those enforcing that agenda uncomfortable operating in your communities.
This then transitions into a discussion about mobilizing to protest or otherwise directly oppose the regime. Cody reminds viewers that even small groups can be extremely disruptive, and to be effective protest actions need to be aggressive, loud, and disruptive; pointing to the anti-Tesla protests as an example of how this works in action. While cautioning against violence, the host speaks out in favor of chasing Republicans and regime officials out of public spaces, and punishing companies and private sector entities that collaborate with or enable the fascist agenda. Cody also encourages Dem politicians to resists the regime as if they're the Nazis, because they effectively are. He talks about the importance of federal workers staying behind to muck up the fascist state from the inside, and why it's vital for other resisters to support these folks. He also talks a bit about weaponizing our exhaustion to participate in actions designed to sabotage the regime, where applicable.
Finally, while Cody probably isn't an anarchist, he closes the episode talking about how human development, society, and our ability to overcome crises depends on helping each other and cooperation in a way consistent with anarchist principles.
This one is worth your time.
Resistance 2.0: How To Survive The Next Four Years - Some More News
Abi
Ashwin Dixit